Demokratische Führungsfiguren im Hudson County, New Jersey, fordern Generalstaatsanwältin Jennifer Davenport auf, den Staat aus seiner Beteiligung an einer Klage zurückzuziehen, die die Fusion zwischen Paramount-Skydance und Warner Bros. Discovery stoppen soll.

In einem im New Jersey Globe veröffentlichten Gastbeitrag drängten Bayonne-Bürgermeisterin Sharon Ashe-Nadowski, Hudson-County-Exekutive Craig Guy, die Staatssenatoren Raj Mukherji, Brian Stack und Angela McKnight sowie die Mitglieder des Repräsentantenhauses von New Jersey Jerry Walker, William Sampson, Ravi Bhalla, Katie Brennan, Larry Wainstein und Gabriel Rodriguez Davenport, New Jersey aus dem Verfahren herauszunehmen, und verwiesen dabei auf mögliche wirtschaftliche Vorteile für den Staat.

Die Verantwortlichen schrieben, dass sie Davenports unabhängiges Urteil zwar respektierten, "The extraordinary stakes for New Jersey in this matter, however, give rise to this rare but consequential disagreement."

"New Jersey has spent years building a film and television industry capable of competing with New York, California, Georgia and production centers around the world including the U.K., attracting transformational investments from Netflix and Lionsgate," schrieben die Verantwortlichen. "Paramount has become a critical participant in that effort and has committed to establishing a substantial, long-term production presence in Bayonne."

Die Gruppe erklärte, der Plan zur Entwicklung von 1888 Studios in Bayonne sei die wirtschaftlich bedeutendste Chance, die Hudson County seit Jahren gehabt habe.

"This is the creation of an entirely new economic ecosystem and a self-sustaining creative economy in our state: careers for electricians, laborers, carpenters, stagehands, technicians, artists, and countless others; new customers for our small businesses; and, critically, accessible pathways into a growing industry for young people and working families who too often have been excluded from the prosperity being created around them. Its economic reverberations will extend well beyond the studio gates," the Hudson County officials said.

Demnach würde das Projekt in dem Paramount-Campus rund 1,2 Milliarden Dollar an Investitionsausgaben, dauerhafte Tonbühnen und Postproduktionsanlagen im County sowie dauerhafte Arbeitsplätze schaffen.

Die gewählten Vertreter des Hudson County äußerten zudem Bedenken über die Kosten des Rechtsstreits und erklärten, Steuergelder sollten nicht in einem Fall gebunden werden, den sie als unsicher beschrieben, während New Jersey zugleich daran arbeite, seinen Filmsektor auszubauen und externe Investitionen anzuziehen.

"We are increasingly concerned that New Jersey taxpayer dollars are being committed to litigation whose merits appear uncertain while its potential costs to the State and to our economy continue to escalate," schrieben sie. "After an exhaustive eight-month investigation involving review of more than 2 million documents, the U.S. Department of Justice concluded that the transaction was unlikely to harm competition in streaming, linear television, or theatrical film."

Sie forderten die Generalstaatsanwältin auf, New Jersey aus der Koalition zurückzuziehen.

"Now that New Jersey is a party to this litigation, whether or not we might have chosen a different course at the outset, the question is how best to protect the interests of the State going forward. We respectfully urge our Attorney General to withdraw our state from this action or work toward a prompt and reasonable resolution of this matter and to be a voice of reason in the room," schrieben sie.

"The State should have an exceptionally compelling reason before spending taxpayer dollars on multi-state litigation of uncertain merit that may undermine those very investments," fügten die County-Vertreter hinzu.

New Jersey-Gouverneurin Mikie Sherrill sagte Fox News Digital in einer Stellungnahme: "We are excited to welcome Paramount to Hudson County because film is in New Jersey's DNA — we're Hollywood East and the only state where film shoots are up this year. New Jersey is open for film business, so we are going to keep building, keep filming, and keep making it easier for companies like Paramount to create good-paying jobs and lay down roots in the Garden State."

Davenports Büro teilte Fox News Digital mit, dass es keinen Kommentar zu dem Meinungsbeitrag der Hudson-County-Vertreter habe.

In einer Pressemitteilung vom Juli erklärte Davenports Büro, dass sie sich der Koalition anschließe, um die Fusion anzufechten, zu der auch andere Bundesstaaten wie Kalifornien, Colorado und New York gehörten. Dabei hieß es: "The proposed merger would combine two of Hollywood’s five major film distributors and two of the five major basic cable companies, extinguishing competition between Paramount and Warner Bros. and inflicting substantial harm on movie theaters, basic cable distributors, and, ultimately, consumers nationwide."

"New Jersey is the birthplace of the American film industry, and the state is now a burgeoning hub for film and television production. Given our state’s leadership in the film and television industry, we must protect our residents when corporate media monopolies threaten to upend the industry by raising prices and reducing content choices," sagte Davenport damals.

"The proposed merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery will hurt our state’s residents, plain and simple," fuhr sie fort. "We will always stand up against corporate monopolists that seek to exploit hardworking New Jerseyans by driving up prices and turning a massive profit at their expense."

Seth Schachner, Managing Director von Strat Americas und ehemaliger Vorsitzender des Film- & Entertainment Advisory Council von Florida, sagte Fox News Digital, die Abgeordneten hätten ein berechtigtes Argument.

"These lawmakers have a legitimate argument, as no one really benefits from extensive legal delays over a merger that could still go forward, albeit with asset sales," sagte er. "The states' legal case is a bit limited though, as it ignores the broader competitive reality that all locales — including New Jersey — are operating in with respect to film and TV production, as streamers like Netflix are essential parts of the case."

Er sagte außerdem, die Abgeordneten seien hier "not unbiased", da sie die Zusage von Paramount für 1888 Studios in Bayonne unterstützten.

Vertreter von Paramount-Skydance und dem Büro von Californias Generalstaatsanwalt Rob Bonta sollten sich Berichten zufolge vergangene Woche treffen, um über eine mögliche Einigung in der Klage zu sprechen, die die 110 Milliarden Dollar schwere Übernahme von Warner Bros. Discovery durch Paramount blockieren soll.